Agra Petha

One of the must buy Agra product is Petha , The petha is a sweet that many believe was invented to provide instant energy to thousands of workers involved in the making TajMahal, you can find numerous shops all across Agra , various types of Petha, the most popular is the Saada Petha, or Plain PETHA, that is white translucent , rectangular piece, It is made from the “Ash Gourd” vegetable (also known as winter melon or white pumpkin, or simply petha in Hindi.

Process of making Petha :- Ash Gourd is washed and peeled and cut into big chunks about 2 inches in size, then pierced with fork from all sides and then boiled in water for 4 hours, after that it is taken out and dried under fan for an hour and then put into hot sugar syrup and boiled for another five minutes. this is how Petha is made
With growing demand and perhaps innovations, more and more varieties of the original preparation are available i.e. Plain Petha, Angoori Petha, Angoori Kesar Petha, Kesar Petha, Pan Petha, Gulkand Petha etc. There are some other variations based on content, one with coconut mixed, another with some nuts put into it. Sometimes kewda essence is used to flavor petha.